Treat Her Like A Lady
by Crimson Anna
Summary: My insight on how Rick TRULY felt in seeing Beth with Zach between the end of Season 3 till Zach died in Season 4 premiere. Just a bit of smut in the tower too for the rating.


"You have to promise me you'll treat her like a lady, or you will get your ass whooped and it want be by me."

"Daddy!" Beth groaned.

"He's referring to me," Tyreese spoke quite loudly. "I'm the bouncer."

Zach gulped as he held his shaking hand out to Hershel. "I promise sir."

Looking down on them, Rick shook his head as he watched him. They knew nothing about this kid so why was Beth so interested in him? As he leaned over, his eyes met with Beth's; she smiled and winked at him and he returned the grin. He felt the heat rising within him as they held each other's glances.

"You ready babe," Zach asked, breaking Beth's trance.

"Let me go see if Judith needs anything right quick," she spoke and lightly kissed his cheek. "I'll only be a moment."

He nodded as Rick backed into his cell and stood there. Running his hand through his hair, he listened to her footfalls on the steps then her blonde head appeared. "Is Judith okay? I saw you looking down like something was wrong."

"No I stepped out so she could fall asleep," he spoke softly. "Go have fun."

"Are you all right, Rick?"

"I'm fine Beth, honestly, now go."

"Okay, back later."

She bounced out and down the steps; taking hold of Zach's arm they headed outside and to who knows what he had planned. Groaning, he flopped down on his bunk and laid his arm over his eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he feeling so out of sorts thinking of Beth heading out with someone her own age? As the lights faded to black, he slid his hand down his jeans and began to massage himself. He could only imagine what Zach wanted with Beth out in the dark. As he thought about it, he snapped awake and got up. He went downstairs and grabbed his rifle, heading out the door.

Crossing the yard, he climbed the ladder inside the guard tower and shut the door behind him. Stepping onto the ledge, he wrapped the grip around his wrist as he placed the sight to his eyes. He used it to survey the yard and finally spotted the two of them … heading around the corner of the building where they couldn't be seen. Snarling to himself, he fired a shot in their direction letting it graze off the wall above their heads. He watched Beth argue with Zach for a moment before they turned and headed back to the main building. He smiled as he propped his foot up to look out over the yard.

Every night for the next week, he did the exact same thing. Once, almost by accident, he grazed the bullet too close and Beth fell over. She scuffed her elbow and knee; when he had went inside to check on her, Hershel commented about the bullets flying. He made some smart comment about it possibly being the Governor or one of his people keeping an eye on them and they needed to be more careful.

When Daryl's group returned without Zach, his heart almost leapt at the notion of the kid not being around then he scorned himself for thinking that way. As he began to walk back up to his cell, he heard Beth tell Daryl "I don't cry anymore, I feel like I've run out of tears for all we've lost lately." He paused, taken aback by her comment.

Later that evening, he stepped into her cell door and watched her as she wrote in her journal. She looked up and smiled at him. "Hi."

"How are you?" he asked.

"I've been better."

"Can you come with me for a minute or three? Carl has Judith and I want to talk to you."

"What's wrong, is it Judith?"

"No, just will you come with me." He held his hand out to her. She rose from the bunk; placing her pen in her journal, she reached out and took his hand. They stepped into the common room as Hershel spotted them. He looked over to Hershel and smiled. "I promise to treat her like a lady, don't worry."

"I don't worry is the problem where you are concerned. You've yet to cause me to worry, so don't start now," Hershel commented and stepped back into his cell.

"What was that about?" Beth asked.

"I have no clue." They headed outside as he led her across to the guard tower. Opening the door, he let her in ahead of him and followed her up the ladder. They stepped inside as he shut the door; they stepped out onto the balcony. As she looked around, her breath caught when she saw the candle and food sitting there for two people. "Join me, I haven't had dinner yet."

"Okay," she murmured and sat down.

Reaching under the desk, he pulled out two bottles of soda and handed her one. "I had to stash these before Carl saw them."

She giggled as she opened the bottle and took a drink. "It's still fizzy."

"I know," he grinned and handed her a sandwich. "Hope you don't mind a bit of stale bread."

"No not at all," she smiled and took a bite. She chewed for a moment then looked at him. "These are vegetables from your garden."

"I snuck and grabbed a small lettuce, a tomato, a cucumber and some red onion so we could have dinner together. How is it?"

"Delicious." She let her feet dangle off the edge. "I guess you heard about Zach."

"I did. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," she mused and ate more of her sandwich. "It was you firing those shots wasn't it for that whole week."

"How did you know it was me?"

"They kept coming from the same direction no matter how you tried to change where you stood. I saw you up there once and figured daddy had you keeping an eye on me."

"Nope," he spoke and took a bite, "that was ME keeping an eye on you. He didn't ask me to."

"Ah, and why would you do that?"

"Cause I could, and I didn't particularly like his intentions towards you."

"I'm not a virgin Rick," she muttered.

"I had no reason to think any different," he commented, taking a long drink of soda.

"So why were you 'protecting' me?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Because I was jealous," he admitted.

"You were what?" Beth asked softly.

"I was jealous of him spending time with you."

"Because he took me from Judith?"

"No … because he took you from me."

"Oh." She ran her fingers over the bottle as she took another drink. Setting the bottle down, she blew the candle out and took the cloth inside. She returned and sat beside him where they were touching. She leaned her head over onto his shoulder and sat there, fingering the label on her bottle. "I've never had anyone jealous over me before."

"Sorry if I made you upset."

"No." Reaching her hand up, she tilted his face to hers. "I like it." Licking her lips, she lifted her face so their lips would touch. His arm came around her as her hand laid on his neck. Opening her mouth slightly, she let his tongue slip in to slowly dance with hers. After a moment, their lips parted as she stared at him. "You should have told me."

"I didn't know how to say it."

"You didn't know how to say 'hey girl, I happen to be in love with you', or was it more you were scared of daddy's reaction."

"Both," he admitted as she laid her head against his shoulder.

"By the way, jealousy suits you to a point," she giggled as she ran her fingers through the gaps in the buttons to touch his chest. He shuddered at her touch then slowly let his hand graze down her arm. She let her fingers unbutton the top two before sliding her hand in his shirt. "I've often thought what it would be like to be with you."

"Like how?" he asked, a small hitch in his voice.

"You know how," she murmured.

He smiled as his hand grazed over her side more slowly. "I'll have to find some condoms on the next run unless you think you can pawn some off Maggie."

"I had pawned two for Zach and I but you kept interrupting." She let out a soft sigh. "Maybe it's a good thing you did because I got the better part of the deal."

"Why do you say that?"

"I got you, didn't I."

"True too." He looked out over the landscape, trying to look in all directions at once. "We need to pick a time we can be together where no one will miss us."

"And how are we going to do that since one or both of us is constantly with Judith?"

"We'll just have to play it by ear and figure it out as we go. Deal?"

"Deal." She licked her lips and looked at him. "Can we please go back to kissing now?"

"Yes we most certainly can." Their lips touched again as their hands began to roam over one another intently, feeling each other through their clothes. Their hands began to increase in intensity as Rick pulled his mouth from hers. He rose abruptly and took her by the hand; she rose with him as they went into the guard tower. Reaching under the desk, he pulled his sleeping bag out and unrolled it. Snagging her hand, he pulled her down with him as they lay side by side. The kissing resumed as their hands began to run all over each other. She felt his fingers slide up under her shirt as she ran hers down the buttons of his shirt. Gooseflesh formed on her arms as he thumbed her nipple; it repeated on him as she ran her fingers over his own nipples. Finishing with the buttons of his shirt, she pushed it open and pulled her mouth from his. Sitting, she yanked her top and bra off before lying back down in his arms. Bare flesh on flesh electrified the intensity in their kissing as they began to grope one another.

Dragging his mouth from hers, he trailed it down her neck to suckle on her nipples. She gasped as her fingers trailed and began to work his jeans undone. Pushing him onto his back, she grinned at him as her fingers began to work him free. As he opened his mouth to protest, she placed a finger to his lips. "Don't worry, I'm not going to mount you … I want to taste you."

His face broke into a broad grin as he laid back. He helped her wrestle his jeans and boxers down as she stared at him, marveling at the length of his member. Leaning forward, she pushed her shaggy blonde hair from her face as her lips wrapped around the tip of his cock. He watched as her mouth slowly slid down his length … then oblivion hit. She began to pump him with her mouth with a vigor he hadn't had since he was in college. He let out an audible groan as she continued working him over for several long minutes. He felt his orgasm rise then he exploded, soaking her mouth as she took it all. He gasped lightly as he emptied himself inside her mouth; she sat up and licked her lips as he laid there. "Damn woman."

"I hope you will return the favor one night for me."

"I plan on it … and I plan on the other as soon as we have a chance."

"Lay still and rest, I'll go on watch for you."

He watched her pull just her shirt on as she stepped onto the overhang with his rifle. He watched as she wrapped her hand through the grip like he did. He watched her prop her foot up on the railing as she surveyed the landscape. Grinning, he reached over and lifted her bra up and fingered it gently before laying it back down.

Later that evening, Beth strolled back into the prison as Hershel watched her. "Where have you been?"

"Guard duty actually. Rick showed me how to use the rifle and I actually hit a walker on the outside of the fence on my first try!" she giggled and threw her arms around Hershel's neck. "I did it daddy, I actually hit a walker with one shot!"

"That's my girl," he grinned and hugged her. "So what did Rick want?"

"To talk about Zach. He told me how sorry he was and said I could talk to him as often as I wanted. He's sad Zach is gone too."

"Zach was a fine young man."

"Yea he was." Beth scuffed her foot on the ground. "He took a small head of lettuce, a cucumber, a tomato and red onion from the garden and made a sandwich for both of us. We ate and he let me talk then he showed me how to use the rifle. On my first try, I hit the walker."

"I am proud of you, I really am. I'm glad Rick showed you how to use the rifle. I don't want you staying up there all the time like he does though."

"Oh he forbid it actually … unless he is with me, and that's only for me to keep him company for an hour then I am kicked back to earth to tend Judith," Beth sighed. "I don't get guard duty, I have Judith to look after. Like he told you, he treated me like a lady." Shaking her head, she began walking to her cell.

"Beth … are you …falling in love with Rick?"

"No daddy," she spoke then paused, "I've been in love with Rick since the farm."

"Have you told him?"

"Told him what?" Rick asked, stepping into the common room. "Did Beth tell you she shot a walker on her first try?"

"She did." Hershel brought his fist up to place on his lips. "My little girl is in love."

"Do I need to bounce him once for you?" Rick asked with a chuckle.

"She's in love with you," Hershel spoke as Beth turned around. "What do you think about that?"

"I think," he spoke, lowering his head. He stood there for a long moment then lifted his face to stare at Beth. "I think, I know, I am in love with her too." He looked over at Hershel. "What do you think about that?"

"I'm still the bouncer," Tyreese spoke with a grin as he walked in.

"Treat her like a lady my friend," Hershel spoke and extended his hand, "and I couldn't be happier actually."

Rick grinned and took Hershel's hand. Beth walked over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you daddy, you have no idea."

"No idea on what?" Carol asked as the others walked in.

"This," Beth spoke and went to Rick. She took his face in her hands and kissed him passionately. His arms slid around her as they held one another tightly as everyone watched on.

"Finally," Carl muttered as Daryl gripped his shoulder.

"Amen bro," Daryl let out and winked at Hershel.

Beth laid her head against Rick's shoulder and became overcome with the giggles. He grinned and shook his head as he stared at Daryl.


End file.
